AT&T today landed a 12-year contract with the U.S. Treasury to upgrade its voice and data networks spanning mobile, fixed, and broadband. The $231 million contract also calls for AT&T to strengthen the cybersecurity stature of the Treasury Department’s telecom networks.

The effort will impact about 100,000 U.S. Treasury employees and reach nearly 700 locations, and the work is already underway. “We have begun transitioning Treasury’s current networking infrastructure, and “the transition will take several months,” Chris Smith, VP of civilian and shared services in AT&T’s Public Sector business unit, wrote in response to questions.

“Network improvements and enhancements will be part of the transition,” he said. The upgrade project will also lower costs and improve support for the agency’s increasingly mobile and distributed workforce, according to AT&T.

The Treasury Department’s upgrade is part of the U.S. government’s $50 billion telecommunications and network modernization program, and being funded under the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) technology procurement program. All federal agencies are required to have at least 50% of their services transitioned to EIS by March 31. 

The program, which is being managed by the General Service Administration (GSA), involves the adoption of trusted cloud-based services designed to address modern security vulnerabilities.

AT&T’s work with the Treasury Department includes the provision of network infrastructure equipment, software, and services, according to Smith. The telecom giant is also responsible for bolstering the security stature of the agency’s networks, but it did not share details about that scope of work. 

“The U.S. Treasury, like all federal agencies, requires highly secure systems,” Smith said. “We can’t comment on the specific cybersecurity protections we’re delivering to the Treasury under this agreement.”